Crisis

Wildfire rages, blazing across landscape,

In your home, heat and smoke consume

Without prejudice.

A growing weather system

Leaving in its wake black and scorch,

Past, future, destroyed in a stroke.

Winds, relentless, laying flat,

Temperature soars, rivers form

Falling in a flash.

No escape, land saturates,

Washing away, piles form

Hard earned, memorabilia strewn.

Drought descends, storms surge,

Parched lands, rising seas

Now lapping at your door.

Weather extremes now the norm,

Existential threat, catastrophic change,

Prevention schemes inadequate.

Foretold, we heeded not

Wrapped in dollar pride,

Blinded by the gain

Paralyzed, deeply lost in self

Casting about to settle blame,

Ignorant in human hubris.

Litany unfolds, one follows another,

All predicted, most ignored

Seasons come seasons pass

Signs clear, red flags flutter and snap.

On the edge, abyss below,

Cause enough to believe.

Oh what a lovely life, love

What a lovely life we built

For sons and daughters.

Tell us again, mom, dad,

What will happen in the end

As we languish in our desires.

How often to be told

This will not end well

Drinking G and T’s.

Spreading, head fogs roll in,

Fire up the BBQ

Crack open, just one more.

Crisis comes from nowhere,

Expected, unaccepted till it happens.

Attention grows from knowing,

Watching, calculating,

Turning on a dime,

Not enough, not in time.